For production for Wind River: The Next Chapter set to kick off this month, Jason Clarke, Scott Eastwood, and Chaske Spencer have reportedly signed on to Taylor Sheridan’s upcoming Wind River sequel.
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According to IMDb, the first Wind River, which starred Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, follows a veteran hunter and FBI agent as they investigate a murder of a young woman at a Wyoming Native American reservation. Taylor Sheridan wrote and directed the film and it won various awards, including Cannes’ Best Director.
Variety reports that Kari Skogland will be directing Taylor Sheridan’s Wind River follow-up film. It will take place on the Wind River Native American reservation, just like the original movie. The upcoming film’s description reads, “As a wave of murders remains unsolved, the FBI enlists the help of Hanson, who finds himself embroiled in a desperate and dangerous fight between the authorities, a vigilante, and the Reserve he calls home.”
Along with Clarke, Eastwood, and Spencer, Martin Sensmeier will be starring in the film as well. However, Renner and Olsen are not returning for the upcoming sequel.
Production is notably underway in Calgary and Castle Rock Entertainment is backing the project. No details about when the film will be released have been revealed.
Taylor Sheridan Reveals What Inspired His Film ‘Wind River’
During a 2017 interview with Interview magazine, Taylor Sheridan revealed why he decided to go with a Native American reservation for his murder mystery film.
“I don’t think you could honestly discuss the American frontier without discussing, in some way, the reservation system,” Sheridan explained. He also said he selected Wind River because of the issues of violence and how it is affecting that region. “I chose winter because that’s the most oppressive time of year on the people in that region.”
Taylor Sheridan then explained that Native Americans would have migrated out of the Wind River area to a better climate in the winter. “The very fact that they are consigned to that region during that time of the year is in and of itself a failure of the reservation system.”
When asked what brought him to Native American reservations, to begin with, Sheridan said it was personal. “It wasn’t to research,” he said. “It was friends that I knew in the Indian country that I visited and then more friends that I made and stayed with.”
He then stated that it was him in his 20s looking to find himself as well. “Find my place in the world, and understand the world we live in.”
In regards to crimes concerning the disappearance of young women, Sheridan added that’s something he has personal experience about. “I saw it first hand. It’s something that affects the life of every member of the reservation and it’s not discussed in our popular culture, in the public awareness.”
